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Saturday, May 7, 2011

Legwand / Edler Fluke Goal Propels Preds

It was probably the flukiest goal you'll see in quite some time, but it provided a momentum shift that the Nashville Predators needed to win Game 5 against the Vancouver Canucks. Despite an impressive effort from Roberto Luongo and Ryan Kesler, the Canucks fell 4-3, and now lead their best of seven series three games to two.

Joel Ward was dynamite for the Predators, as was David Legwand who was the lucky recipient of the Pred's second goal, gifted by a surprised Alexander Edler.

For Canucks fans, who are already drawing parallels between this season's edition of the Nashville Predators with the 2003 edition of the Minnesota Wild which Brian Burke called a 'cult', this goal will not ease the growing concern over the Canucks' lack of killer instinct.

Longtime Canucks' fans will remember a similar fluke goal in Vancouver's second round series against the Minnesota Wild. The Canucks were up in Game 7 in the second period after Bertuzzi blew the roof off the building with the 2-0 goal, only to have Marek Malik behind the Canucks net have the puck flip into the air back in front of the goal, where I believe Minnesota's Wes Walz batted the puck out of the air and into the net.

Regardless, the Preds have scored at least three or four goals from behind the net in this series, and the Canucks will have to be smarter on the power play, and smarter all around if they are to survive the perseverance shown by the Nashville Predators. For more on Game 5, and the Sedin twins struggles in the second round, check out PuckWatch's recap of Game 5